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How is Christian ethics different from secular ethics
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Before diving into Johnathan Haidt’s, The Righteous Mind, I was curious about how he would explain the dividing factor that seems to split different religious and political groups. Even after just reading the first part in this book, I gained a new perspective on how we make decisions and knowledge on some of the factors that can play an influential role in the decision-making process that might set us apart from others. Specifically, this reading has made me rethink my definition of moral reasoning, led me to understand how we may have no initial justification to our thoughts and actions, and how we may benefit from understanding moral reasoning.
Previously, I had not put much thought into what makes a person do moral things but I assumed
It is crucial that every belief must be thoroughly explored and justified to avoid any future repercussions. Clifford provides two examples in which, regardless of the outcome, the party that creates a belief without comprehensive justification ends up at fault. It is possible to apply the situations in The Ethics of Belief to any cases of belief and end up with the conclusion that justification is of utmost importance. Justifying beliefs is so important because even the smallest beliefs affect others in the community, add to the global belief system, and alter the believer moral compass in future decisions.
Sometimes in life there are instances in which and individual must make a decision that will question their moral fiber. These instances could vary from whether or not to help others in need, decide whether an action is right or wrong or even when deciding who should live and who must die. How does one logically reason to an ethnical conclusion to these situations?
Morality derives from the Latin moralitas meaning, “manner, character, or proper behavior.” In light of this translation, the definition invites the question of what composes “proper behavior” and who defines morality through these behaviors, whether that be God, humanity, or an amalgamation of both. Socrates confronted the moral dilemma in his discourses millennia ago, Plato refined his concepts in his Republic, and leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi would commit their life work to defining and applying the term to political reform. Finally, after so many years, Martin Luther King’s “A Letter from Birmingham Jail” reaches a consensus on the definition of morality, one that weighs the concepts of justice and injustice to describe morality as the
The primary issue that was addressed in the Journal article, “Moral Reasoning of MSW Social Workers and the Influence of Education” written by Laura Kaplan, was that social workers make critical decisions on a daily basis that effect others. They influence their clients’ lives through giving timely and appropriate funding to them and their families, through deciding should a family stay together or should they have a better life with another family, or connecting the client with appropriate resources that can enhance their lives. The article addresses data from an array of students from various universities. The researcher posed these questions; “Would social workers use moral reasoning (what is right and what is wrong) more prevalent if it was taught through an individual class during your MSW graduate studies, or if you obtain any other undergraduate degree, or if the ethic course was integrated in the curriculum?”
In chapter four of Johnathon Haidt’s book The Righteous Mind, Haidt talks about five different topics. Of these five, there are three that I am going to discuss; 1.) We do care about what others think about us, even if we do not think we do. 2.) We as humans will always tend to be dishonest when we think we can get away with it, and 3.) We will reason with anything to justify our original thought. His main thesis for this chapter is that our intuitions come first, then our strategic reasoning.
In the book Righteous Mind by Jonathan Hadit a social psychologist at the University of Virginia discusses why he believes people more specifically the American people cannot get along in today's society. Haidt’s research examines the foundations of morality, and how morality varies across cultures–including the cultures of American liberals, conservatives, and libertarians. Hadit considered himself a strong supporter of liberals and then he started his research. In the book, he discusses, how the American public is divided by politics and Religion. He covers the topics that no one desires to talk about because people who decide to touch on these topics end up in arguments because no one can simply agree on political and religious views. According to Jonathan Hadit, people cannot get along because people do not understand where the other party is coming from, and they want the other party to understand their point of view and to agree with them.
Religion and morality exist together in parallel according to Alan Keyes. Alan Dershowitz stated that if religion and morality are not separated, it could have negative discourse. James Fowler followed Piaget, Kohlberg, and Erickson when selecting the stages to his development of faith across the life span. These three men all selected different ways to look at religio...
James Rachels expresses his thoughts on what a satisfactory moral theory would be like. Rachels says a “satisfactory theory would be realistic about where human beings fit in the grand scheme of things” (Rachels, 173). Even though there is an existing theory on how humans came into this world there is not enough evidence to prove the theory to be correct. In addition to his belief of knowing how our existence came into play, he also has a view on the way we treat people and the consequences of our actions. My idea of a satisfactory moral theory would be treating people the way we wish to be treated, thinking of what results from our doings, as well as living according to the best plan.
In the article “What makes us moral” by Jeffrey Kluger, he describes how morality is defined and how the people follow rules. Kluger discusses about scientific research that has been done to point out the important reasons of morality. Kluger explains that a person’s decision to do something good or bad is based on empathy, that humans tend not to do bad to those they sympathize with. Kluger also compares humans with animals and thinks that morality is the only thing that separates us from animals. I do agree with Kluger that people are born with a sense of right and wrong, but we should be taught how to use it. We learned to be nicer to those around us because we already know the type of person they are, and the morality we learned as children
The Righteous Mind, by Jonathan Haidt, seeks to enrich liberalism, and political discourse generally, with a deeper awareness of human nature. Formerly unnoticed by fellow psychologists, Haidt argues that people are intuitive, and tend to follow their gut instincts, rather than find rational reasoning. He discovers through a series of experiments that people are not designed to listen to reason. Instead, when asked questions, most people reach conclusions quickly and come up with justifications afterwards. Haidt interviews people with absurd questions like, “Is it wrong to have sex with a dead chicken?” or “Is it wrong to have consensual intercourse with your sibling one night?” or “If your dog dies, is it wrong to eat it?” Most Americans agree
Moral relativism, as Harman describes, denies “that there are universal basic moral demands, and says different people are subject to different basic moral demands depending on the social customs, practices, conventions, and principles that they accept” (Harman, p. 85). Many suppose that moral feelings derive from sympathy and concern for others, but Harman rather believes that morality derives from agreement among people of varying powers and resources provides a more plausible explanation (Harman, p. 12).The survival of these values and morals is based on Darwin’s natural selection survival of the fittest theory. Many philosophers have argued for and against what moral relativism would do for the world. In this essay, we will discuss exactly what moral relativism entails, the consequences of taking it seriously, and finally the benefits if the theory were implemented.
A shibboleth, according to Gabennesch is “a belief that serves the purpose of identifying the believer as one of the good guys, prominently planted on the side of the angels.”(13). Similarly, indulging in these “shibboleths” showers individuals with various psychological rewards such as the sense of always being in the right and the comfort that, regardless of what decisions they make, they will always be practically and, especially, morally good ones . Moreover, these rewards, especially in our current world where the majority of choices, rather than simply being black and white, are various shades of grey and where the definitions right or wrong can change in a heartbeat, can be exceptionally appealing, particularly to those those in legal, military, and government professions whose lives revolve around making difficult decisions. However, these rewards come at the price of an individual’s ability to examine one’s actions and determine, based on facts, whether they are really acting as one of the “good guys”. Likewise, individuals willingly paying this price have caused some of the greatest tragedies in human history, ranging from murders to massacres to even holocausts. Yet, despite the fact that I personally believe that a some of these tragedies could be avoided if the individuals in question had taken even a moment to think critically about their actions I also do not doubt that it is difficult to turn away from the rewards of uncritical thinking. After all, rejecting uncritical thinking, especially when it is related to such concepts and shibboleths, puts an individual in an awkward position where they again have to constantly question their own motives and actions as well as the motives and actions of others. The world around them, which had previously seemed so neatly ordered and structured, suddenly becomes chaotic and jumbled. However, from this chaos emerges an
Evidence of this position is premised on pragmatic reasoning of abiding by societal rules and regulations irrespective of the moral contradictions of others. The interpretation of life choices cannot prevent people from making judgment and perception about those same choices. Additionally, the proponents of common sense insist that cognition is the center of all human actions and not intuition. This contributes to a refined reasoning process, which strives for the unification of the collective good that is utilitarian in its philosophical framework. Accordingly, the possible outcomes of making assumptions under the pretext of moral choices contentiously conflicts with the complex decisions expected of logical determination of phenomena in difficult situations. It is a step steeped in beliefs and attitudes of either the individual or the collective group that aspires for universal good. On the same account, objections raised consider Stuart Mill’s utilitarian concept as the guiding and founding principle of upholding self-sacrifice and setting of standards because it is rational. Mill observes, “our moral faculty, according to all those of its friends who are entitled to count as thinkers, supplies us only with the general principles of moral judgments; it belongs with reason and not with sense-perception (Mill
Moral ethics is the belief that all human beings are born to know right from wrong. We come into this world as good people, but the temptations and challenges in life influence our mind set to as it will. Every person on Earth chooses if they’re to follow through with their life of good or go down the path of bad. “A person’s moral ethics” (unknown.)
be moral? If I should be, then why? Why is morality important to society? An